Free book offer: Scripture teaches that the Rapture will occur during this generation. With your free subscription you will receive an email with the download link for “This is the Generation.” To subscribe, please fill in the boxes below. Thank you.

Subscribe to mailing list

Name

Email *

My new book, Counterattack: Why Evangelicals are Losing the Culture War and How They Can Win, is now available. Please click on the book below to read more and for links to Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Trapping People in a Gospel Silo

Business management has of late developed concern over the problems generated by a silo mentality. This Forbes definition summarizes these concerns.

The Silo Mentality as defined by the Business Dictionary is a mindset present when certain departments or sectors do not wish to share information with others in the same company. This type of mentality will reduce efficiency in the overall operation, reduce morale, and may contribute to the demise of a productive company culture.

I am deeply concerned that evangelical Christianity has succumbed to presenting a Gospel message ensconced in a cultural silo into which it lures and traps those who hear and respond to it.

Gospel Networking

This has not always been the case. This Gospel silo is a product of the culture shift that occurred beginning with the 1960s that has carried us into a post-Christian era. During the Christian era of the past the American public was for the most part conversant with Christian concepts. Therefore, even when exposed to a brief gospel presentation they could connect the concepts being presented with Christian perspectives supplied by the culture.

For example, being told that Christ died for their sins so that they could have eternal life, they were aware that the Bible categorize them as sinners, that their sin elicited God’s judgment, and that the result of the judgment was eternity in hell. Likewise, they knew that the Bible taught that Jesus was the Son of God, and therefore when presented with the gospel they were aware that this entailed submitting to His authority, which meant living “like Christians are supposed to live,” which included being moral and loving persons who exercised Christian disciplines such as Bible reading, prayer, and church attendance.

Consequently, as the person heard a gospel presentation he networked the concepts in that presentation with all of this information supplied by the culture, which provided him with a rather comprehensive and accurate platform for responding to the gospel. This knowledge supplied the new believer with a solid foundation from which he could commence his relationship with the Lord.

Gospel Silo

A person in our post-Christian era does not have access to all of that information that was previously supplied by the culture. To make matters worse, not only is he functioning in a biblical vacuum, but he also exists in a culture of spiritual disinformation. Rather than seeing himself as a sinner, he has been taught that he has a right to do his own thing, a concept which renders sin impossible—makes it a nonexistent category. He has also been taught that he should be accepted unconditionally, therefore assuaging any guilt that he might possess. In addition, this right to do his own thing and to be accepted unconditionally informs him that he has a right to carry his autonomy with him into this new relationship with Christ. Not knowing a whole lot about Christ, that He is deity, that He is holy and requires us to live holy lives, that His followers are actually His servants responsible to do His bidding 24-7, and other information, his understanding of the implications of entering into a relationship with Christ is extremely limited.

The result of this lack of information and the presence of disinformation means that he is unable to connect the information supplied in what we might consider a normal gospel presentation with a broad base of spiritual truth. Instead, he is living in a spiritual silo that walls off the elements of the gospel from the broad array of related biblical implications. To the contrary, this person is trapped in a silo of misunderstanding and the resultant misapplication. It prevents him from expanding out in Christian growth, and may even create a false hope of salvation, the person not realizing the implications of the message he heard, thus responding inadequately.

Our current American cultural context mandates that our presentation of the gospel is much more comprehensive, including the various implications and obligations inherent in biblical faith. Unfortunately, often today’s gospel is even more truncated, leaving the person receiving it trapped in a silo of misinformation and misunderstanding. This explains why it is so difficult for many evangelicals to progress in their walk with the Lord.

PragerU offers an excellent video on the role of religion in a free society. It notes that “government isn’t enough. A moral people is also required, that is, a people moral enough to police itself.” George Washing observed that “virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.”
The video cites the founders’ belief that “the absolute enemy of freedom was a freedom that was … Read More →

Perhaps the salient question facing evangelicals today is the one asked by the Philippian jailer: “What must I do to be saved.” (Acts 16:30)
The answer given by Paul seems simple enough: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” This response, however, requires that we accurately identify “believe.” Since belief comprises the operative element in Paul’s … Read More →

Prospects for America are not encouraging. Even with Republican control of both Houses of Congress and the White House, the Left continues to prevent conservatives from making major gains while it moves its agenda inexorably forward.
Repeal of ObamaCare keeps getting watered down and delayed, President Trump can’t get his budget through Congress, the courts keep blocking his efforts to protect … Read More →

Texas is seeking to protect the modesty and safety of women by passing a law related to transgender biological men in women’s bathrooms and shower rooms. The bill did not make it out of committee during the legislative session, so now Governor Greg Abbott may call a special session to force the issue.
A Family Research Council article reports that a group of rich tech companies to include … Read More →

Somewhere in the ancient past the terms “liberal” and “the Left” became viewed as synonyms. However, today’s “Left” is anything but liberal. One definition of liberal has it promoting “the freedom of the individual and governmental guarantees of individual rights and liberties.”
Though the Left seeks to self-identify as liberal, with historical connections to initiatives such as the free speech … Read More →